I smell angels
by Seraphim Grace
Summary: The boys of Weiss have a new mission, investigating a new computer game called Digital Angels. A cross over with Angel Sanctuary
1. 1

Farfarello looked up from his colouring book with a growl shocking Schuldig who had been happily reading a very interesting yaoi doujinshi to see the white head bouncing up and down, "calm down, Far," Schuldig growled throwing his legs over the arm of the chair, Nagi looked up briefly from his game boy advance sp (tribal edition) and then frowned, and Crawford pointedly ignored him, looking for all the world that he had been swallowed by his broadsheet newspaper. He was merely a pair of hands holding the broadsheet on the table.

"I smell angels." the Berserker said quite clearly. "I smell angels."

"I smell dinner burning," Crawford said looking at Schuldig, over the Times who swore, got up and rescued his casserole. He was wearing an apron that proclaimed, "_Kuss die koch_."

"I bet Weiss never has to deal with this." Schuldig growled under his breath.

"They have Hidaka waxing lyrical over soccer." The broadsheet answered with nary a rustle to mark the presence of the man behind it. "At length."

"He's eating the crayons again." Nagi said looking up from his game-boy where he had gotten an all time high score on Mr Driller 2. His tone was completely calm. "And I am not eating that casserole if it has celery in it."

"It's just a little bit." Crawford answered from behind his paper. "I like celery."

"I bet Weiss never has to deal with this." Schuldig repeated.

"Weiss have a day job." The newspaper replied. "We don't and we get paid more than they do."

"He's covered in purple wax." Schuldig protested, "And now he won't want his dinner." He reached into a pocket for a packet of baby wipes. "I bet Weiss never has to deal with this." He said for the third time.

"Weiss have to deal with a shop full of obsessive teenage fan girls." The newspaper answered wryly.

"We know." Nagi and Schuldig answered a little wistfully.

Omi bounced into the shop like a sprite on sugar and plopped himself down on the back work table where Aya was creating another stunning masterpiece with nothing but two sprigs of Rowan, a Casablanca lily, some ivy and a length of antique lace. "Ayan, you will never guess what happened in school today."

"Hn," Aya said working out which of the three cut glass vases would best suit his masterpiece.

"The diamond cut," Omi said noticing his indecision. "Well, I was in the corridor when Matsuo was almost in a fight, and I was about to step in," he ignored Aya's cold gaze that suggested that it would be a bad thing for Omi to be caught fighting, "when the teacher came up and he confiscated Matsuo's computer game, something called Angel Sanctuary, and Matsuo burst out crying."

"Hn."

"I thought so to." Omi said, "its not like Matsuo at all, I mean first getting in a fight and then arguing with the teacher and chasing him down the hall and trying to steal it back from him. And I went online at lunch to see if I could get the game and I can't, I was beginning to think that I had read the name wrong, because it was in English, but I don't think I did. Maybe it's black market, or something. But Matsuo got sent home because of it, and he was really upset that he didn't get it back."

"Hn."

"Do you know what I like best about you, Ayan, you listen." He stood up, brushing off the loose soil from his trousers, "that's really nice, do you want me to put it in the window for you?"

"Hn." Aya said, wiping his hands off on his apron.

"What do you want me to price it as?"

"Three thousand yen." Aya said firmly, "No make it four."

"Okay," Omi said, "you might want to make yourself scarce, the fan girls won't be long behind me. You opened this morning, I'll finish the shift for you if you want."

"Hn." Aya said.

"Is that a yes hn, or a no hn?" Yohji asked. "I can never tell."

"Shi-ne, Kudoh." Aya answered.

"Three words," Yohji said clutching a September daisy to his chest. "Please excuse me whilst I die of happiness that our fearless leader graced me with three consecutive words."

"Shi-ne, doesn't count." Omi said in all seriousness.

"Baka."

"Yes," Ken said lifting his head from the bags of fertiliser.

"Baka, not Hidaka." Yohji told him, "You need to get your ears cleaned out."

"Hn." Aya said in agreement.

"I bet Schwartz never has to deal with this." Ken said moving a large bag of fertiliser in readiness for the invasion of fan girls that was looming. If he left it out they'd split it open and it would be a mess to clean up he didn't want to think about.

"They have other worries." Omi said, "imagine trying to feed Berserker, or trying to get Prodigy to eat his greens, or disengaging Crawford from the Times and put up with Schuldig's practical jokes."

"They still get paid more than we do and don't have to put up with..."

Aya jumping clear over the worktable cut Yohji off before he could finish. "Incoming!"

The door opened with a pleasant jingle and all four assassins assumed a defensible position as two teenage girls entered the shop. "Sugoii," the one with long fair blonde hair said to her friend, they wore dark blue dresses with a white sash at the neck. "There are four of them, they'll know what flowers to get."

If anything the combat positions grew stauncher. "Excuse me." The small dark haired one said adjusting her glasses. "We'd like to buy some flowers." He adjusted her glasses again. "Is this the Kitty in the House?"

"Yes." Yohji said warily.

"And it does sell flowers?" The blonde girl asked. She was pressing them for information.

"Yes." Yohji answered again.

"Then why are you all acting like we're about to..."

A happy jingle signalled the door opening and fifty girls between the age of thirteen and twenty piled into the shop, grabbing things, florists. Soil was thrown across the floor and the air was loud with screams and names. "BUY SOMETHING!" Aya yelled.

"Or leave." The girls chorused together. They were clutching their hearts and grinning.

"We'll come back." The blonde said preparing to go. "When it's not so busy."

"Gomen." Omi said cutting her off, "it's always like this in the afternoon. Can I help, I'm Tsukiyono Omi." He gave her his most kawaii smile causing one girl by the cash register to glower with jealousy. It was almost possible to see the dark mist around her.

"Tsukiyono-san, I'm Mudou Sara and this is my friend Saiki Ruri." The blonde said moving her thick blonde braid over her shoulder, slapping an encroaching fan girl in the face with it.

"Saiki-san, are your glasses broken, I have a screwdriver in the drawer, I could try and tighten them for you." He said. Yohji handed him the screwdriver.

"It's fine, Tsukiyono-san," the girl said with a pretty blush. "We just needed to get some flowers for Mudou-san's mother. It's her birthday today and we didn't know what kind of flowers she would like."

"Hai," Sara said with a sad smile, "and she's been so down lately, and everyone's been talking about how good the flowers from here are."

"How old?" Aya said, batting away two particularly attentive girls with a willow switch.

"She's thirty eight this year." Sara answered, trying not to be intimidated by him as two girls seemed to beam as he smacked them with the stick.

"How much?" He asked again. He gave the two girls his patented "shi-ne" glare, one looked slightly upset the other swooned and fell to the floor where the others stepped over her.

"We've got five thousand yen." Sara told him.

"Be right back." He said and used his elbows to make his way back to his workbench where he moved in a flurry of activity.

"Aya-kun makes the best arrangements." Omi said brightly, "He'll know exactly what to make her."

"Out of my way!" He bellowed several minutes later, the fan-girls parted like the red sea allowing him to walk through. He had made a rather fetching display of yellow roses, baby's breath, wisteria and lavender. "Here." He said, "three thousand yen."

"He must like you." One of the girls said, "he's talking." Sara flushed a little at the thought that this was Aya being verbose. She handed over the money and he handed over the flowers.

"She bought something." Aya said, and then with a frosty smile, he grated, "Please come again."

"See Aya," Omi said, "it's not that hard to say it." Omi at least was used to the Shi-ne glare.

Yohji was dancing around the shop with the broom to the j-pop that Omi had playing in the background. It wasn't so bad when it was just him and the chibi closing, Ken tended to make more mess than he cleaned up and Aya was happier counting the money and unless everything was up to his amazing levels of cleanliness his Shi-ne glare, which Yohji argued came in five strengths of vitriol, taking the skin from his back. "So, Omittchi," he said sweeping out under the racks, "what did you think of Sara-san?"

Omi blushed red to the roots of his hair. "She's joined Aya's fan club." He said quietly counting out the notes. "He had to make her flowers."

"Aya's good with flowers." Yohji said, "and she was a paying customer, besides, she's about your age."

"I go to school with her brother." Omi said, "and he's scary, he's always in trouble, and he hangs around with Kira, and both you and Aya said you'd break both my legs if I got involved with him." Yohji had his opinion of the boy, that he was the devil incarnate only being part of it. Kira was bad news and he was not letting his little Omittchi get involved with that, there would be women and booze and he'd be smoking. Yes best to keep the chibi away from that. It was one of the few things that Yohji and Aya had ever agreed on.

"In that case never mind." Yohji said, "so did you learn anything at school today?" It had been a unanimous decision on the part of the older boys of Weiss that Omi would go to an all boys school, it meant that there would be no awkward questions about girls to answer, because every time Yohji answered them he was treated to a full Shi-ne factor five and he could feel his skin blister.

"Not really, there was a bit of a fuss when Matsuo got sent home for fighting." Omi locked the cash drawer and lifted the spray bottle of detergent to wipe down the worktable.

"Matsuo?" Yohji asked. "He always seemed like such a nice boy."

"I know." Omi said, "he just went mad and started kicking at Sensei."

"In a fight with a teacher?" Yohji asked. "That's something I'd expect of Kira, not Matsuo."

"I know, its not the kind of thing you expect to see in the hallway either, even Kira has limits on how far he'll go." He tucked his hair behind his ear as he thought about it, "in school, at any rate. I can see why you want me to stay away from him, he's almost earmarked for the Yakuza, I wouldn't like having to kill a friend as Bombay, after what it did to KenKen."

"It's the only thing that Aya and I agree on." Yohji said standing the broom by the door. "That's reason enough, now come on, bishonen, lets get some dinner before Ken starts cooking and we all die of food poisoning."

There was a rattling at the shutter, and then a sturdy knock. "I wonder who that is?" Yohji said, "and it better not be who I think it might be, because if it is her, I'm out." He went to open the shutter.

"You can't be out if you open the door, Yotan." Omi replied, flustered by Yohji's strange logic. He opened the door and was pushed out of the way by a white blur with a man with bright orange hair being pulled by a leash. He ended up on his back with Schuldig between his legs and Farfarello was sniffing at Omi suspiciously.

"Sorry," Schuldig said getting up and dusting himself off, "he's been like this all day, I just took him out for a walk. This is not a raid, it's just walkies." Nevertheless his hand was quite near his luger.

Farfarello took a deep sniff. "I smell angels." He said quite clearly.

"No," Schuldig said, yanking on the leash, "you smell Weiss, now come on." He pulled on the leash again.

"Yotan," Omi said pulling his legs up unto the counter away from the strange Irishman that was intent on smelling him.

"Get out, before Aya comes down, this will be murder to explain."

"Angels." The mad Irishman repeated, "you smell of angels."

"I haven't changed my aftershave." Omi said, "I can't imagine why I'd smell of angels. Now shoo." He waved him away. Farfarello's gaze looked suspicious.

"If you don't mind me asking," Yohji said looking at the lead.

"Most people see him as a white Akita and for the most part it stops him running away." Schuldig answered with a shrug, "but he's been hyper all day, if I didn't know better I'd swear that Todt had been feeding him candy again, but," he lowered his eyebrows, "he even walked past a church in high mass."

Both Yohji and Omi blinked at that. "I know." Schuldig said, "He's been a holy terror all day."

"Hurting angels hurts god." The Irishman said sitting back, and started scratching at his ear with his foot. "You smell of angels." He repeated looking at Omi.

"Come on," Schuldig said pulling the lead again, "we're not going to get any further than this tonight, we'll get you some yummy potato bread and some bacon and I'll tuck you into bed with some Guinness and read you the story about the angel who went to war against god again."

Farfarello seemed to think about it. "Disobedient angels hurt god." He said.

"It's worse than owning a puppy." Schuldig told the two members of Weiss as he left the shop. "At least they don't talk back and you can stop them peeing on the carpet."

Yohji went to pull down the shutters when he saw a very familiar pair of white socks in the doorway. "No," he said, "no, I have a date, go away, we're closed for the evening."

"I have a key, Kudoh." Manx answered, making him pull the shutter back up, "and was that Schwartz I saw leaving here?"

"Sort of," Yohji answered letting the woman in at last, "the mad German was talking the loony Irishman for a walk and he wanted in so he could smell Omi, I'd love to explain it but I don't understand it myself."

Manx shook out on huge ringlet over her red suit. "Nothing about those four makes sense," she said, "besides this isn't a mission, I just want the tax returns. You are a tax refundable expense after all."

Yohji breathed a sigh of relief as Omi handed her the book. "They should be right Aya did them, and you know how he is about money." Omi told her, she nodded. She looked at Yohji, "don't you think you should start making yourself presentable for your date, I mean you only have a few hours and it's a lot of work to be undertaking."

Yohji tried his own impression of a Shi-ne glare, Manx laughed. "Why is it everyone pays attention when Aya does that?" He whined.

"Because he's Aya." Omi answered.

"Hn." Yohji answered, going up the stairs.

Aya had laid out the vegetables in their exact positions on the work surface as he polished the heavy knife on the whetstone. "Aya," Ken protested, "I'm hungry."

"Hn." He replied, he didn't want to dignify that with an answer. They were having vegetable stir-fry and that was that, and if the knives weren't sharp enough then Ken would have to wait. The wok was nice and hot, he started to chop the vegetables, quickly, efficiently, shredding them and dropping them in the wok.

"Hm," Yohji said leaning over him, "smells good."

"Hn." Aya answered stirring the vegetables quickly before pouring them into bowls with the lightest dash of soy sauce. He liked his vegetables mostly raw and that meant when he cooked they all ate them like that. He handed Yohji a bowl. "I thought you had a date." He told him.

"And I do," Yohji answered around a mouthful of baby sweet corn. "You know, Aya, you're a really good cook, you'll make someone a great wife one day." Expecting to be blessed with a full-factor-five Shi-ne glare Yohji was surprised to be stabbed in the rib with only a chopstick.

"Ha," Ken said waving his chop stick around, "that should teach you, never make any kind of comment about Aya within striking distance." He looked kind of smug about it too, "although I must say Aya," Aya braced himself for reaching, "compliment," Ken said noticing the shift in position, "this is really nice."

"Thank you." Aya answered.

"Ha, two words." A short sharp slap struck Ken around the back of the head.

"Hn."

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you." Yohji told Aya who raised a single red eyebrow in response even as he chewed on a piece of pepper. "About two things, one, there are too many dissolute influences in that school of Omi's." he even managed to look concerned at that, "especially that Kira boy, I swear I saw him at a club last week and when you mention him to Omi he doesn't want to become his friend in case he has to kill him." Aya's gaze remained impassive, "when that is hardly the first priority, that boy is the devil incarnate and there is no way to telling what he'll do to our little Omittchi."

"Omi can look after himself." Ken replied. "He knows better than to get involved with that boy." Then he realised what he said, "we sound like a bunch of old hens." He pulled a face, and then shuddered.

"So someone has to talk to him, and he listens to you." Yohji went on.

"And the second thing?" Aya asked.

"Do you want to come out with me tonight?"

"What's this, Yohji, are you asking our fearless leader out on a date?" Ken asked pushing his now empty bowl away and drinking some of his soda.

"No, I just noticed that seeing it's been ages since Aya went anywhere that he might want to come along."

"Hn," Aya replied.

"Is that a yes hn, or a no hn?" Ken asked, "Because I can never tell."

"I don't like crowds." Aya replied.

"Fine, it's just a quiet place, only holds about fifty or so, a nice friendly crowd, an old friend is playing live tonight and I said I'd go but I couldn't think of anyone else I'd rather go with." Aya rolled his eyes that suggested that he was going to go but really would rather have been disembowelled- with a spoon. "Besides no one else I know even likes poetry." Aya blinked at that. Yohji stuck his tongue out, and then doubled over as the chopstick stabbed him again. "It's a teahouse." He gasped.

"The trick," Ken said, slipping his bowl into the sink, "is to stay out of range."

* * *

Author's note:

Although Schuldig's apron looks rude it actually says kiss the cook in German.


	2. 2

Nagi Naoe was on his way home from his cram school cursing all the way, it was typical, he was a powerful telekinetic, in one of the two most highly prized mercenary assassin groups in the world, independently wealthy and he still had cram school. He had been all over the world, in the employ of some of the world's most powerful men and yet someone still decided that he needed to know about the foreign policy of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. He was cursing when the man stepped out in front of him.

He was tall with silvery blonde hair and he wore a long white trench coat. "Do you believe in god?" the man asked him.

Nagi thought of some of Schuldig's most favourite phrases, this was all he needed, a god botherer at this time of night, where was Farfarello when you needed him? "I'm in a hurry."

"I'm glad that I could finally meet you." The man said, in his hand he was holding a CD jewel box, "Seems like the number of the victims is increasing! Deep in your heart, you have a power from God, locked in that tiny body like Pandora's box... You are special... because you are the chosen one. The reason I'm giving this to you is... You host a power equal to it... Once the brightest star in heaven, equal to God... give yourself to Rociel."

"Look, I'm flattered really," Nagi said as the man grabbed his arm, "just let me go."

"Is there a problem here?" A voice said, Nagi almost gave out a sigh of relief, he was rescued, then he realised that the person that had rescued him was Fujimiya Aya, one of his worst enemies, and standing next to him was Kudoh Yohji. It really wasn't his night, he had been attacked by some bible freak and now he was being rescued by Weiss of all people. He began to wish that the ground would open and swallow him before he died of embarrassment.

"Yes," Nagi answered, he had had enough of this rotten day, of his rotten exams and rotten foreigners trying to convert him. "Aya-san, this man won't leave me be."

"Hn." Aya replied, although Yohji was reasonably sure that Aya was not carrying his sword, but that didn't mean he wasn't carrying something else.

"The boy's with us." Yohji said as Aya gave the foreigner a factor three Shi-ne glare. "And is definitely not old enough, so unless you want us to call the cops, beat it."

The man raised an eyebrow as if to suggest that the two of them were no match for him. He pressed the jewel box into Nagi's hand. Then looked at Aya again, "Well Michael, shall we deny that we saw each other here?"

"What?" Aya asked. The man turned and walked away without an explanation.

"Well, kiddo," Yohji told him leaning down, "you sure pick 'em, what did he give you, porn?"

Nagi turned the box in his hand. "It's called Angel Sanctuary, Yohji-san."

He answered, "never heard of it." Aya blinked, he had. He just wasn't sure where.

A car pulled up along side them and the window rolled down "What the hell is going on here?" Crawford said from the driver's seat, "I had a vision of Nagi being attacked and I find him standing with half of Weiss."

"They rescued me." Nagi said, opening the car door, "there was a weird foreigner and they scared him off. Thank you." He gave them a small bow, "and Aya-san, who's Michael?"

"Weirdo just had him confused with someone else." Yohji answered with a mock salute to Crawford.

"I don't think the boy should be out on his own in this part of town this late." Aya answered. "Next time he might not be so lucky."

"I have just enrolled him in a new school." Crawford said, "and besides, Nagi can take care of himself." Aya raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"Come on," Yohji said, "Ora will be starting soon and I don't want to miss the show." He tugged on Aya's arm. Aya had stopped in front of a news broadcast; the reporter was talking quietly "Up till now, there have been five students, nation wide, who died while using a computer. The computers themselves didn't register any errors. Details are still being investigated!"

"Oh Kami-sama." Yohji swore, "Omi."

"Don't be so melodramatic." Aya said, "I just thought that it would be our next mission."

Back at home Nagi looked at the CD that the strange foreigner had given him and tried to ignore the scratching at his door. "Angel Sanctuary," it said it large typeface, then in smaller writing "digital angels."

"Leave him alone," Crawford called out, "he's studying."

"But," Farfarello whined, "I smell angels."

"Not again," Schuldig said, "first you break into Weiss' headquarters so you can sniff the Tsukiyono kid and now you want to smell Nagi, you paedophile, into your room and stay there." There was a slamming and then a huffing noise as Schuldig flopped into their sofa.

"He did what?" Crawford asked.

Nagi decided to ignore them as he put the CD in running it through a scan so he could find out what it was. He'd done enough havoc with Schwartz than to simply trust something, just because it looked like a game and smelt like a game and played like a game didn't mean that it wasn't coded with subliminal god-love messages or something. Becoming religious was not something he intended to do with Farfarello in the house, even if he was being a little strange lately. The CD seemed clean, but he decided to think about it later, he had a paper to write on expansionist renaissance politics. He lifted the book from the shelf with his power and flopped it on his desk, sometimes, he thought, it sucks to be fifteen.

Yohji walked back from the teahouse with his hand surreptitiously in Aya's. It was nice being able to show affection for Aya, and for Aya to actually talk to him and let him show affection. They never could in the Kitty in the House in case word got back to Kritiker unless the other two were absent, but this was nice. Sometimes Aya could actually be quite talkative.

"Hey, Aya," he said looking at his beautiful lover in the light, "why did you stand up for that Schwartz kid, Crawford's right you know, he can take care of himself, I'm surprised that odd foreigner wasn't wrapped around a lamppost."

"He's younger than Omi," Aya said, "and just because he can deal with it physically doesn't mean he can think that through. I imagine if it had have been the other way around that Crawford would have stepped in."

"To kidnap Omi." Yohji added, "and sell him in the black market, or brainwash him." Aya's frown gave him his answer. "All right, it was the right thing to do. Why did he call you Michael? I know you have this secret mysterious past you never talk about..."

Aya put his hand to his mouth, "the man was insane, and I have no idea why he called me Michael."

Omi looked up from his assignment when the teacher called out to the class, "We have a new transfer student today, everyone this is Nagi Naoe, Nagi-san, you can sit in the empty seat next to Tsukiyono-san, he will fill you in on what you've missed." Omi didn't know whether to stutter, faint, or attack, when the boy sat next to him.

"Don't say anything." Nagi growled pulling out his chair and sitting down with a heavy thump. "I was in a mixed school, there was this girl, and Crawford transferred me, that's all you need to know." He said firmly.

"I wasn't going to say anything." Omi answered. "I'm here because Aya doesn't want Yohji fielding awkward questions."

Nagi nodded as if he understood completely. "She wasn't my girlfriend." Nagi added, "in case you misunderstood."

"No, not at all." Omi added. "I always thought that you and Todt..." He left it open.

"It passed when I spent five minutes with her." He added. "She was..." It was Nagi's turn to leave a gap in the conversation.

"I understand completely." He looked at Nagi's Sailor Saturn Pencil tin and then his own Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne one. "School finishes at three today, want to hit the arcades?"

Before Nagi could answer Matsuo stood up and the teacher looked up before he frowned. "I have to go." Matsuo said, "Angel is calling me."

Nagi stifled a giggle as the boy left the school. "What do you know, whatever it is that Farfarello's got it's catchy." He watched as Omi joined him in a secret snicker. "All he has to do now is smell young boys."

Omi got back to the shop around dinnertime. Aya was sat reading a book of English poetry and it looked that Yohji was teasing him. Omi had no idea what was so funny about the poetry of Lord Rochester and why Yohji would find it at all interesting. "You guys will never guess what happened in school today?" He said helping himself to some of the takeout on the table. "We have a new student in class, and I have been assigned to make sure that he fits in, and it's Nagi." He paused, "Schwartz Nagi." He added.

"Maybe we should have let that foreigner kidnap him." Yohji said taking a drink of his coffee.

"He mentioned that." Omi continued, "and Matsuo freaked out in class, said that he had to go that angel was calling him. And I went to the arcade with Nagi-kun, he's all right, really, he's really smart and..."

The phone ringing interrupted him. Aya reached over and picked up the handset. "Kitty in the House?" He said clearly. "Crawford?" He asked in shock. There was a brief pause. "No, we'll be right there." He hung up the phone.

"Is Schwartz making a move? They are targeting the mint, right?" Yohji asked.

"No," Aya said, shocked, "he wants to talk to us two about Nagi's new school. He's a bit worried about bad influences." Aya was shocked into speaking.

"He thinks out little Omittchi is a bad influence?" Yohji asked, aghast.

"No," Aya said quietly, "he's heard about a bad influence in the school, but..."

"Kira." Yohji growled. "That boy is the devil incarnate."

"I was so shocked I said we'd meet him."

"How did he get this number?" Yohji pressed.

"The yellow pages." Omi replied, shaking his head, sometimes he wondered if he was the only member of Weiss with any common sense.

"Kritiker listed Weiss in the yellow pages?" Aya asked.

"No," Omi answered, "they listed the Kitty in the House in the yellow pages."

Crawford had picked a small local restaurant which they both had declared neutral ground on the previous two times that they had met to discuss matters. They never talked about work, but once Crawford had needed a very specialised bouquet and he knew a group of florists that would keep it quiet, and once Yohji had this German girl following him, who didn't speak a word of Japanese. This was the most adult conversation that they had ever had.

He wore a black Armani suit and reflective glasses. He was drinking coffee and had ordered coffee for Yohji and tea for Aya. "You knew we would come." Yohji said, Crawford didn't dignify that with an answer.

"It's a good school." Aya told him sitting down. He may have agreed to meet Crawford but he still didn't trust him enough to drink the tea.

"It's the best in this area, and it is an all boys school." Crawford replied. "However it has some subversive elements."

Aya handed over the folder. "I think this is what you're looking for." He answered, opening the folder, "The prime ringleaders. Sakuya Kira, he's an upper class man, I have nothing to link him to Yakuza dealings yet." He showed him another photo, "Kato Yue, just your general trouble maker, fighting, takes and sells drugs, the usual." He showed him several more photos with a brief description of the person. "And this last one is a project of sorts." He said. The boy was pretty with mixed features and sandy brown hair, "Mudou Setsuna, he is Kira's shadow, and if one is the devil incarnate then this one is definitely his right hand man. He is in Omi's class, so is in Nagi's as well. I can't prove anything to either of them yet."

"Can I keep these?" Crawford asked, gesturing to the photos.

"We have copies." Yohji said.

"And this Matsuo boy that Nagi mentioned?" Yohji raised an eyebrow.

"I think he might just be having a breakdown, he's basically harmless. There is nothing to make us suspect otherwise at this time." Aya told him, he was in full Abyssinian mode. "What information do you have?"

Crawford put a second manila folder on the table. "This is Nagi's schedule." He said, "You may notice I have highlighted in red the classes he shares with Tsukiyono." Yohji looked at it the only class not highlighted was German. It made sense that Nagi would be learning that. "You may also notice that I have withdrawn Nagi from computer classes, it raised questions." He said adjusting his glasses, "hence Schuldig does his German homework, and also the boy does not do physical education." Aya nodded, neither did Omi. "They may end up friends with this schedule, this is something that we must discuss."

"It might be good for them." Yohji told him fussing with his cigarette, it was a non-smoking restaurant and it was driving him nuts.

"I agree," Crawford said bluntly, "but at the same time it causes certain other problems." He took off his glasses and started to rub them on the tablecloth to clean them. "Need I remind you that we are enemies."

"Certainly not." Aya answered. "Shall we make a deal, Omi will not be allowed to have dinner at your safe house and vice versa? Also no sleep-overs."

Crawford nodded, putting his glasses back on. "The sooner the boy graduates the easier it will be." He said with a sigh. "Thank you for the information, and thank you for saving Nagi from that strange foreigner before he wrapped him around a lamp post."

Yohji gave Aya a meaningful look. "I told you that he could." He hissed. Aya ignored him.

"Schuldig also told me about the little altercation with Bombay." He added, "and I wanted to apologise."

Aya looked at Yohji who just shrugged it off. "Keep your lunatic on a tighter leash if he's into smelling teenagers."

"What happened?" Aya growled. Crawford got the impression no one had told him.

"Farfarello broke in when we were closing, sniffed Omi, said he smelt angels, Schuldig apologised and dragged him off, it was nothing." Yohji said with a shrug, "if it had been anything we would have said."

"Nevertheless Farfarello was out of order, and I am sorry, if it is any consolation, he's been sniffing at Nagi's door as well." He stood up, "now if you gentlemen will excuse me I do have other things to be doing."

"Schuldig." Yohji coughed into his hand. Crawford turned at the exact moment that a short sharp slap struck the back of Yohji's head courtesy of his team-mate. Crawford nodded and left. "Oh, come on," Yohji said, "You know they are."

"Even if they are that doesn't mean that we have to behave like children." Aya said with a hint of mischief. "We do have a serious problem with Nagi attending the same school as Omi." He said. "And."

"The Kira boy." Yohji said, "every time I see that boy." He left it open, it was obvious someone was waiting on Kritiker to approve it, "I swear I don't know what it is about him."

"I know." Aya said, "that day that he came back to help Omi with his English, I swear I had to check all the appliances were there when he left."

"The devil incarnate." Yohji finished,

"Maybe we could get Manx to get him expelled." Aya said musing as he stood up. "That would solve our problems nicely."

Yohji conceded that. "He hasn't' really done anything," Yohji found himself saying. "Yet."

They went straight home, Omi was sat at the dining room table doing his homework and Ken was reading a sports magazine that seemed incredibly fascinating to him. He didn't even object when Aya flicked on the news. "A sixth student was found today dead at his computer, the police are investigating but have no new leads. The computers themselves reveal nothing." Aya frowned before changing the channel.

Nagi and Omi were walking home together when they heard the fighting. "Mudou Setsuna," the bully called out both of them looked down into the gully where the fight was happening.

"Should we intervene?" Nagi asked, "He's in our class."

"Kira's there." Omi replied, "He won't let it get out of hand." The bully had lifted a stick, as Setsuna turned and broke the stick, hitting the bully at the same time, splitting his lip. Setsuna reacted to the blood, fainting.

"Kill him," the bully said, Nagi was all for jumping down the hill. Omi and he were trained assassins- they could deal with this.

Kira stood up, closing his book, "Isn't that enough?" He asked. The bully kicked at Setsuna, trying to provoke him, "isn't that enough?" Kira repeated. In a single movement Kira had kneed the bully in the stomach, hard enough to double him over. He and his cronies started to run off.

"Told you." Omi said, "this happens all the time." He shrugged as Kira started to wake up Setsuna.

"Have sex with me." Setsuna said quite clearly.

Kira laughed putting his arm around Setsuna to hold him up. "You actually fainted in the end? Maybe a little pathetic? They were already very beaten up."

He was stopped as a ringing slap struck Setsuna clear across the face. Setsuna paused. "Sara."

"Does every one beat him up?" Nagi asked.

"That's his sister." Omi said, "Come on, I'm hungry, she'll just beat him up a little." He tugged on Nagi's arm. "It happens all the time."

"She's pretty." Nagi said looking at the blonde girl.

"What is about you and psychopaths?" Omi asked with a laugh, "you'll be wanting her to dye her hair blue next and asking you to play with Rabbi -chan."


	3. 3

The next day Sara and her friend, Ruri ostensibly came to pick up a small bouquet, but really wanted a chance to talk to the four strange florists. It was lunchtime and it wasn't quite so busy. "Mudou-san." Aya said with a small smile, "did your mother like the flowers?" Both Ken and Yohji stood open mouthed as Aya actually started a conversation with a customer, and more than that, with a fan girl. This led them to think that he had a plan. Aya did nothing without a plan.

"Yes, thank you, Aya-san." She beamed, "I was looking for Tsukiyono-san actually, he's in the same class as my brother and I was wondering." She was moving one foot behind her quite embarrassed, "if-he-wanted-to-join-Ruri-and-me-on-a-double-date-with-my-brother." It took a couple of moments for the long tirade, which was managed without pauses to register.

"You're going out with your brother?" Yohji asked.

Sara glowed bright red, "No," she said, "I'm going out with Ruri who's going out with my brother, and Tsukiyono-san is so sweet that I didn't think he'd mind escorting me."

Ken smiled, "bless him, our little Omittchi's got a girlfriend." He said holding a rose to his face.

"Who's asking him out." Yohji finished.

"Omi won't be back till five today, at the earliest, if he doesn't go to the arcade after school, so if you call back around dinner time you can ask him then." Aya said giving the other two a factor three death glare. He wrote down the number on a piece of paper. "Here."

"Thank you, Aya-san." She beamed, "it's not true what those girls said at all, I think you're really nice." She bustled out of the shop before he could ask her what those girls had said.

"Omi's going to kill you," Yohji said picking up the broom.

"He will tell her no politely." Aya said, "won't he Manx?" He didn't turn around and the other two hadn't noticed her so technically he shouldn't have known she was there. One day, she thought, I will sneak up on him.

"I'm afraid you will be busy for the next couple of nights. Do you want to close the shop, Balinese?"

"Manx, honey," he said giving her a dazzling smile, "I thought you'd never ask."

Sitting in the dark grotto that was their mission room the three Weiss assassins looked at Manx warily. This was never good.

"Lately," she began. They cut her off.

"Terrorists?" Ken asked.

"Hijackers?" Yohji asked.

"Kids with exploding heads." Aya said clearly.

Manx looked at them and then shook their heads. "This isn't a sweepstakes," she said, "It's a mission, and the prize goes to Abyssinian for the correct guess."

"Hn," he said quite distinctly.

"so what does he win?" Yohji asked with a lascivious grin.

"The dubious honour of serving me your head on a plate." Manx replied with a sweet smile.

"You love me really." Yohji answered.

"Really." She answered. "Now to return to the mission, there have been five..."

"Six." Abyssinian corrected.

"Our information suggests five."

"Six." Aya corrected.

"Okay six," she said with a sigh, muttering under her breath that she'd be grey before her time and that Schwartz wouldn't give her so much trouble. "There have been six," she looked at Aya, "children found in front of their computers with their head's exploded."

"Like in Scanners?" Ken asked.

"Yes, like in Scanners." Manx added, "Baka."

"There is nothing to link these children that the police can see, only this." She pulled out a small computer disk, "each of the victims were found to have only this in common. It's called Digital Angels: Angel Sanctuary." The name rang a bell to Aya but he couldn't have said how. "We've run it through every program we can think of for nothing, the disk appears to be blank. However it turning up in five cases."

"Six." Abyssinian corrected sharply.

"Five out of six cases can't be coincidental. We want to enrol Omi at this school."

"We already did." Ken said looking at the name of the school, "for about five months now."

"Six." Aya corrected.

"That's just not funny anymore." Yohji added.

"Hn."

"Look, I'll leave the information here and then go and just..." She was clenching her fists.

"Go drinking with Birman?" Ken asked.

"Have hot illicit sex with Rex?" Yohji asked.

"Visit Queen and throw darts at pictures of me." Aya asked.

"Again, you get the prize." She said snidely, looking at Aya. "I trust you're all in."

They all nodded. "Fine then. I'm going." She was still clenching her fists and muttering under her breath. "One nerve," she said clearly, "Just one nerve."

"I think she's fast on her way to a nervous breakdown," Ken said.

"Or five." Yohji added.

"Six," Aya said wringing the last bit of life from that particular joke.

When Omi came home he had Nagi in tow. The two were sitting at the kitchen table with their books in front of them. Ken came in and poured himself a glass of water from the fridge before he turned. Then he dropped the glass with an almighty crash pointing. "Schwarz!" He gasped, "here."

"It's all right." Omi answered lifting his eraser. "It's been cleared with Aya and Crawford. We go to the same school."

"I am always the last to know anything, here." Ken said on his way to get his broom. He passed Yohji in the hallway. "Did you know Schwarz is in our kitchen?"

"What's he doing?" Yohji asked.

"His homework by the look of it." Ken answered.

"That's all right then." Yohji replied.

"And nobody thought to tell me."

"We thought you knew."

"I never know, nobody tells me anything." Ken argued, he was going a little blue in the face.

"Well Manx knew."

"That's it." Ken said storming back into the kitchen to clear up the broken glass. "I am officially the last to know anything in this house."

"Hey, chibi," Yohji said ruffling Omi's hair and being careful to avoid the puddle of water on the kitchen floor. "Hello," he thought about it, "chibi-ni."

Nagi burst out laughing. "Beats Naggles." He said with a smile.

"He's so pretty," Yohji said basking in Nagi's wide smile, "can we keep him, we can trade him in for Hidaka. What do you know about flowers?" He sat down at the table. "I'm being serious if you couldn't tell, I also think you wouldn't leave your soccer ball on the stairs."

"I am right here." Ken protested, "and it was only once."

"You were lucky." Omi said, "that it was Yohji that tripped over it and not Aya."

"Did someone say my name?" Aya said from the doorway.

"Just the florist I wanted to see." Omi said with a smile, "can you make a big bunch of flowers for Saiki Ruri for me?"

Aya raised an eyebrow, for Aya it said volumes, it asked why should I, why can't you, and what for?

"There was an accident at her school. Apparently the auditorium blew up and she's in hospital, I thought it would be nice if we could send her some flowers, and Ken makes lousy bouquets," everyone nodded at that, even Ken, "Yohji will never deliver them because he'll spend all day chatting up the nurses." There was another round of plaintive nodding. "And I have enough homework to see me through to a week next Wednesday, so please, Ayan, for me."

"Hn."

"Thank you, and can you put Nagi's name on the card too please."

"Hn."

"I know we take terrible advantage of your kindness." Omi said shaking his head, "and I won't do it again."

"How do you do that, chibi?" Yohji asked, "it sounds like a grunt to me but you can understand everything he almost says."

"I listen." Omi replied.

"I saw that foreigner again." Nagi said as he was chewing on his pen, "he was hanging around Saiki-san's school when it blew up, because Mudou-san came running out, and she had Setsuna-kun was with her when it all went up. Everyone saw it; he was on the roof of the next-door building. If some girl hadn't knocked the pair of us flying I wouldn't have seen him."

"Knocked on your back by a girl, chibi-ni? Now you have to share."

"Chibi-ni?" Aya asked.

"It beats Snaggletooth." Nagi replied, "but not by much."

"Does Crawford know you're here?" Aya pressed.

Nagi nodded. "He said with that lunatic blowing up kid's heads I'd be safer in our enemy's kitchen than at the library doing my homework."

Aya shrugged. "As long as he knows."

"So Schwarz has heard about the Scanner Kids?" Ken asked.

Nagi narrowed his eyes thinking. "I get it, exploding heads. It's been on all the news, and Crawford said that it would be okay to tell you that Esset is not behind it, and we know they're genuinely not this time, rather than saying they're not, because they want us to look into it. Is it Kritiker?"

"No." Yohji answered, "They want us to look into it."

"Do you always talk this much?" Ken asked, "you always struck me as being sullen and quiet."

"You try and get a word in at home." Nagi answered, "between Farfarello talking about God, Crawford screaming at Schuldig and Schuldig doing things that makes Crawford scream." He went bright red. "That's not what I meant. Oh, god, they'll think I outed them and they're not."

"It's okay, chibi-ni," Yohji said, "we've known for years anyway."

"But they're not." Nagi protested.

"Maybe we should send them flowers to celebrate the occasion," Ken said, "like a nice geranium."

"A lemon geranium maybe." Yohji added.

"But they're not." Nagi protested.

"Enough," Aya said with a slight smirk, "You're upsetting Nagi, he's young, they hide it from him."

"Ayan!" Omi protested, "I expect that from those two, but from you..."

"I'm going to go make up those flowers." He said with a slight smirk. "I'll deliver them too, and the geranium." Yohji and Ken burst out laughing.

Omi and Nagi were cutting through the park when they heard the crying. Both of them had been assassins too long to miss the opportunity to snoop. Mudou Sara was sat on one of the benches crying, they were about to intervene when they saw her brother. She turned around and threw her arms bout him. "Oniichan, I just went to see Ruri at her house... but..."

Setsuna's voice was soft when he answered her, "She really misunderstood..."

Sara wiped at her face angrily "Hn... I can understand that," She said, "because of what happened to her, she was... I.... I will go see her again, until the day she will accept me..."

Setsuna stretched her out in front of him so he could look into her eyes. "Sara, that was an accident! It's not your fault! All I thought about was protecting you..."

Sara looked baffled for a moment ,"Huh?"

Setsuna sweat dropped. "K'so! Uh... that's not what I meant!!! I mean... if you get hurt, Mom would get all pissed again! So..."

Sara laughed, "Oniichan... this is not going to work... you always say what's on your mind, you don't think about others, so sometimes you say things that hurt other girls..." Setsuna looked stunned for a moment. "But that's also the reason why they like you. Maybe Ruri was right, I was jealous of her. Therefore I feel even guiltier... I like my brother more than I thought..." She squeezed his cheeks. "But that's enough, I have to get over this..."

Setsuna winced as she pulled at his cheek, hard. She let go and then kissed him on the cheek, "bai bai."

"Now I feel like a voyeur." Omi said going to walk away. Suddenly one of the balls on the modern art statue in the park flew off and landed between Setsuna's feet. It only just missed squishing him completely, when Omi turned to look Nagi was obviously concentrating. He had moved the ball at the last minute.

A young boy with dark skin and long white hair stamped his foot as he came out from between the trees. "It missed you!"  
Setsuna looked at him. There was a woman with the boy. Omi looked at the two of them in case it meant something later. "You two again!"

The dark skinned child balled his fists. "That's weird, if you really are Alexiel, you can break that thing with the touch of a finger!"

Setsuna looked sceptical. "Why? She's superman? How many times do I have to tell you? Moron! I'm not the person, whoever it is, you're looking for."

The child looked offended. "Her name's Alexiel."

Setsuna went to walk away. "Yeah, that's it, whatever she is..."  
The child clearly swore and stamped his foot again. "Alexiel... She was once the highest and most beautiful angel in heaven! She owns a sword, which can control all the elements: earth, water, fire and wind. Even when she was covered with blood, the light she emitted would not diminish. She was the greatest warrior..."  
Setsuna turned with another glare. "Angel? Oh... uh... yeah, she's really great... Bye, I'm going home. Oh and... I think you need to get some medical help!"

A dark cloud hovered over the child in his rage "Wait, don't leave yet! If you don't be careful, something worse is gonna happen! We are savage demons from the Gehenna kingdom, from a royal bloodline; we are different from other demons..."

The woman with the child looked down "Damn it! My stockings got torn by the fence wires!" Her voice was deep and raspy.

The boy kicked her from behind "Arakune! Did you forget the whole purpose of why we are here?" She lost her balance and fell down hard, on top of Setsuna.

She took the opportunity to hug Setsuna before he pushed him away, "Oh, I'm sorry," she said, "ha, you look pretty cute from this close."

Setsuna sweat dropped "Go away! Lady boy."

Arakune was horrified. "What... what did you call me?" He asked.

Setsuna rolled his eyes, "I'm very sensitive to these things." He said, "And besides, your breasts are crooked."

Arakune's horror swiftly changed to rage. "Pervert! How dare you touch me?"

Setsuna seemed more bored than horrified by what was going on. "Look who's talking! You're the one who jumped on me!"

Arakune had lost her temper completely. "Okay, this is it! This guy is definitely not Alexiel!"

"Really..." Setsuna said extending his middle finger, "I think I've been trying to tell you that from the start. Look, if you come near me again, I'll sell you to one of those hermaphrodite bars!" He left, slinging his book bag over his shoulder.

"WHAT!?" She shook the boy violently, "Kurai, wake up! Does he in any way look like a beautiful angel? He only resembles her in looks, please! Hello...?"

"What the hell was that about?" Omi asked.

"If I knew, I'd share." Nagi answered, "but I know someone who will."

"No," Omi answered, "I am not asking Farfarello until he stops sniffing me."

Farfarello was chained up in the garden of the safe house where Schuldig had left him. He had a large doghouse and was gnawing rather happily on a rawhide bone. "Farfarello," Nagi called, leaning over the fence. The insane Irishman's eye looked up.

"Hello," he said quietly, looking at both Omi and Nagi and then sniffed the air quite carefully. Omi shivered. "You don't smell of angels today." He said rather matter of factly. "Did you have meat loaf for dinner?"

Nagi nodded. "He's lucid, we can go in." He went to open the gate.

"Don't mind me, I'll just wait here." Omi said, clutching the fence.

"We have some questions for you," Nagi said, "And we brought you some chocolate if you answer them."

"Do you have to talk down to him?" Omi asked, "he's insane, not an idiot."

"You'll see." Nagi answered, holding out the bar of imported Swiss chocolate. "We need to find out about an angel called Alexiel."

"Betrayed God she did," Farfarello answered, "She was the organic angel, and she went to war against God, but her twin brother, Rociel, struck her down and she was sealed away. Her soul was to be reincarnated as a cursed person destined to die, but her body was locked away in the highest realms of heaven."

"Why?"

"She went to war against god." Farfarello answered as if talking to an idiot. "Angels rebelling hurt god." He reached out for the chocolate, Nagi threw it at him.

"You didn't get that from me." He said.

"Of course not." Farfarello said ripping off the wrapper. "She used the cursed sword," he said, daintily biting the chocolate in small bites with pointed teeth, "Nanatsusaya, the seven bladed sword of the holy spirit. The devils are coming for her, they want Alexiel to start their war against God again. Help them, little Nagi, defying hurts God." He smiled again, the frightening nature of it spoiled somewhat by the chocolate smeared between his teeth.

"Is he always like that?" Omi asked, shuddering.

"Little Bombay," Farfarello called. "Sleep tight." And then he laughed.

"That's all I needed," Omi said, "now I'm going to have nightmares."

"That's why he said it." Nagi answered with a smile.

"Crawford," Nagi said looking at his where his leader lurked behind the Financial Times, "can I take Farfarello out for a walk?"

"No," Crawford answered, "you're not old enough."

"That's not fair!" Nagi whined, "you don't understand, you always say I'm too young, and I only want to take him for walk, just to the park and back, not past any churches or anything, but he's awfully lucid and he helps me with my poetry when he's lucid and he looks after me, and I would like to take him to the park."

"Take Bombay." Crawford answered, "he doesn't have to be on a leash." Crawford flicked the paper intending from now on to ignore Nagi, but he had other ideas.

"Please, Schuldig gave him chocolate and wouldn't it be better if he had the sugar high in the park where I can control him than in the house."

Crawford lowered the paper to the table, "fine, seeing you're so determined, take Bombay with you, he's expendable, and I want you back after dark, so you can't see what I'm going to do for Schuldig for the double crime of telling Weiss I was gay," he flicked his eyes to a medium pink flowering lemon geranium that sat on the kitchen windowsill - it had come with a card saying "for coming out - Weiss"- "and feeding Farfarello chocolate knowing full well that it makes him hyper." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, "and feed him whilst he's out, and eat vegetables."

Nagi smiled to himself as he pocketed the money. It was all going exactly to plan, he had both Crawford and Schuldig out of his hair for at least the afternoon, because Crawford couldn't bear to be near a whiny teenager and a hyper maniac. And Schuldig was an unfortunate casualty of war.


End file.
